Chapter 342: The Five Women in the Crown Prince

…

Zhao Shou, who had personally participated in the Battle of Pingjin City, felt deeply moved, especially after hearing veteran soldiers recount how, in the early days of Great Song, without Li Lin cannons and other firearms, they could only rely on defensive fortifications and sacrifice their lives just to barely repel the Xia army's attacks.

From a very young age, Zhao Shou and the other imperial princes and princesses knew that five women in the harem held statuses unlike any other concubines—even his own mother dared not provoke them, let alone offend them; they were the five tyrants of the harem, ruling it absolutely, doing as they pleased, receiving more nightly visits than any other woman, even surpassing his mother.

Because the previous emperor, Emperor Zhezong Zhao Xu, favored concubines over his wife and allowed his favorite concubine Liu Qingjing to seize the position of Empress from Empress Meng Xiang, everyone connected to Meng Xiang suffered consequences; the precocious Zhao Shou once lived in deep fear that his father might also cast his mother into the cold palace and depose him as Crown Prince, replacing him with one of the five women's sons.

Later, only after seeing that his father and mother remained deeply affectionate and that the five women got along harmoniously with his mother did Zhao Shou dispel such doubts.

But then came the challenge from the five women's sons.

Zhao Di, Zhao Cun, Zhao Qing, and Zhao Tang were all outstanding among their brothers, each exceptionally talented, never losing to him in literature or martial arts since childhood—especially his fourteenth younger brother Zhao Tang, who not only never lost to him but remained relentlessly ambitious, nearly openly declaring his desire to become Crown Prince.

Later, even the slightly younger Zhao Xing and Zhao Sheng had already begun to stand out among the next generation of imperial princes.

As a child, Zhao Shou never understood what these five women had that made them so special, or what his father found so appealing in them.

Only when he grew older did Zhao Shou understand:

Yuan Qing Cheng solved the food shortage problem not only for Great Song but for all of humanity—her merit served the present and benefited a thousand generations; she was the greatest woman of this era.

Ma Xiao Jiao invented numerous advanced machines and industrial materials, drastically changing the lives of Great Song's people and even altering the course of human progress.

Ye Shi Yun not only created the Ye Shi Yun Medical Canon, which saved countless lives, but also secretly managed Great Song's economy, becoming its actual female God of Wealth.

Zhao Shou asked himself: if he had encountered these three women, he too would have granted them such privileges.

But Zhao Shou did not know where he could find such extraordinary women.

Notably, Zhao Shou knew of Yuan Qing Cheng's, Ma Xiao Jiao's, and Ye Shi Yun's abilities and contributions, but he was unclear about what talents and achievements Zhang Chun and Li Lin possessed—he only knew that his father always carried Zhang Chun and Li Lin wherever he went.

Of course, Zhao Shou had heard rumors about Zhang Chun and Li Lin's abilities.

For instance, Zhang Chun excelled in predictive arts and could serve as a strategist.

For instance, Li Lin mastered fitness techniques and possessed certain military skills, allowing her to accompany his father in exercise and offer military advice.

Only now did Zhao Shou learn that Li Lin's invention, the Li Lin cannon, had become the Song army's decisive weapon, and that all firearm tactics were her creation—she now bore the nickname "Female War God."

Zhao Shou, who had personally tested and witnessed the devastating power of Li Lin cannons, Li Lin muskets, Tiger Squat Cannons, Thunder Bombs, and explosive packs—and seen how their tactics completely overwhelmed the Jurchens—also believed Li Lin deserved the title "Female War God."

As for the remaining Zhang Chun, who stood alongside Yuan Qing Cheng, Ma Xiao Jiao, Ye Shi Yun, and Li Lin, and who accompanied his father daily, Zhao Shou was certain she possessed extraordinary abilities as well.

"I heard a brother from the Hu Ben Army, who fought the Jurchens in open battle, say that even after deploying Tiger Squat Cannons and Thunder Bombs, they barely held their ground against the Jurchens—these soldiers excel at close-range assaults, charging fearlessly to within arrow range, shooting one down with each shot, extremely deadly; if we wish to defeat them, we must attack from afar with Tiger Squat Cannons, Divine Arm Bows, and firearms, never letting them close in, and when they do, blast them with Thunder Bombs; if they truly get too near, we must detonate the Thunder Bombs and charge forward to die together—otherwise, victory is impossible."

"Then it becomes a bloody battle."

"Even a bloody battle must be fought—dying in battle is honorable, and the court will handle everything; to shirk battle invites merciless military law, certain death, and brings shame upon the Jiaozu Sect and ensures your wife spends her life in disgrace—it is far too costly."

"It's still best to fight from behind city walls—you earn merit and promotion without trading lives for lives."

"This is all thanks to Your Majesty's wisdom—you never recklessly pursued open battles with the Jurchens just because our firearms were powerful and we had defeated them in the field; instead, you leveraged our strengths and avoided our weaknesses, using our superior method of shallow assault and fortification to eliminate the Jurchens."

"That's why Your Majesty is the wisest and most militarily astute ruler in all of history!"

…

Hearing the soldiers speak so highly of his father, Zhao Shou felt an indescribable surge of pride and admiration—pride born from the soldiers' boundless reverence and affirmation, a genuine tribute to a wise sovereign and a hero. He reflected inwardly: his father possessed not only extraordinary wisdom and courage in governance, but also profound and far-sighted military strategy—he had grasped the importance of firearms, used them to neutralize the Jurchens' savage battlefield prowess, and at the same time adopted the most prudent tactics, slowly eroding the Jin state. Such ability was truly beyond ordinary men.

At the same time, Zhao Shou privately thought: if he could inherit even half his father's wisdom, he would surely be able to stand firm in this turbulent world and safeguard the Song Dynasty's realm.

After this victory, after merely giving the army brief rest and replenishment, Zhong Shidao commanded the Song forces to fully recapture Chenzhou and open the land corridor between the Liaodong Peninsula and the Liaoxi Corridor.

Only after completing all this did the cautious Zhong Shidao submit his victory report to Zhao Yu.

But Zhao Yu had already received news of the great victory at Pingjin City.

Yet Zhao Yu did not rush to announce anything; only after Zhong Shidao's report arrived did he issue an edict ordering the Bureau of Military Affairs, in coordination with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, to promptly verify the frontline soldiers' merits and issue promotions and rewards without delay, to boost morale.

After court dismissed, Zhao Yu did not consult his ministers about the ancestral temple rites; instead, he went directly to Ma Xiao Jiao's Royal Scientific Research Institute on Your Majesty Mountain in Genyue.

At this time, the Royal Scientific Research Institute, including researchers and artisans, numbered nearly ten thousand.

These ten thousand people—men, women, young, old—were the scientific talents Zhao Yu had spent over a decade gathering from across Great Song, each a hidden dragon or crouching tiger in their field: some excelled in mathematics, manipulating numbers with their fingertips to clarify complex data and deduce universal laws in the finest detail; some mastered astronomy, observing stars and constellations as easily as reaching into a pouch, using the movements of sun, moon, and stars to determine seasons and directions; some specialized in mechanical ingenuity, transforming ordinary wood and iron into ingenious devices that saved labor, increased efficiency, or moved heavy loads; others focused on material innovation, smelting new iron from ores and extracting adhesives from plants, making tools stronger, tougher, and more practical.

Gathered together under Ma Xiao Jiao's leadership, they verified and inspired one another: mathematics provided precise scales for mechanical operation, astronomy guided timekeeping and long-distance navigation, mechanical ingenuity transformed theory into practical tools, and new materials broke the limitations of previous designs.

Furnace fires burned through the night, blueprints grew ever more precise—from improved farming tools to enhanced transport machinery, from instruments measuring heaven and earth to new smelting methods—each small breakthrough gradually converged into a current, and without notice, they had laid the foundation for Great Song's Industrial Revolution.

Over these years, praise for Zhao Yu's brilliance and heroism had grown ever louder, until they nearly lifted him to the heavens.

But Zhao Yu knew well: his own brilliance and heroism stemmed primarily from two women—Yuan Qing Cheng and Ma Xiao Jiao.

The former helped Zhao Yu solve Great Song's people's survival problem.

This was the most important.